The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge awards have been presented annually since 1996 to recognize businesses and individuals that have discovered innovative ways to significantly reduce pollution at its sources. Nominations for the awards are judged by an independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, on behalf of a group of representatives from government, industry, academia and the non-profit sector.
This year's winners have developed innovative processes that have the potential to improve earnings as well as the environment.
The 2003 award recipients and their achievements are:
Richard A. Gross, Ph.D., Polytechnic University (Brooklyn, N.Y.) He has developed a new, versatile method to make and modify plastics from all-natural materials, such as sugars, using an enzyme from yeast. The method is simple, energy efficient and metal- and solvent-free. The new one-step process contrasts with multiple steps used in the traditional method. This will cut costs and reduce the production of toxic chemicals, he explains. He envisions the polymers from his work being used in applications ranging from coatings to soft, biodegradable film wrappings. He is also finding that his new functional polymers from sugars are attractive for use as medical implants and for controlled drug release.
Sd-Chemie, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.) The firm has developed a process to manufacture solid catalysts that does not release nitrates and uses 16-20 times less water than traditional processes. Solid catalysts are used in producing hydrogen, clean fuels and other chemicals. This new process involves one step, while past catalyst-producing processes have needed four. It
'"/>
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
23-Jun-2003